Archduchess Glasya of Malbolge

Glasya is known by many names: the Dark Prodigy, the Princess of the Nine Hells, and Lord of Malbolge. She maintains control over the erinyes and has a massive following within the downtrodden and the neglected royalty of the other planes. For a long time, she was simply a lesser archdevil, jumping between various courts as she saw fit. It wasn't until the Reckoning, which she helped instigate, that she claimed true power and became ruler of one of the nine layers.

Asmodeus, her father, and Glasya share much in common—particularly their cunning, ambition, and "dedication" to laws. Because of this, despite some of the hatred Glasya has towards her father, the two share a relationship of respect and support.

Of all the Lords of the Nine, Glasya is the most unpredictable. She flaunts the rules of tradition and bends the law without breaking it. She delights in shocking others by springing gambits that catch them unaware. Mortals who go up against overwhelming odds with an audacious plan attract her attention and could win her respect and patronage.

The reason behind Glasya's rise to lordship is the subject of much whispered debate in the Nine Hells. It is generally known that Asmodeus presented Glasya to the Lords of the Nine as his daughter, and she toured the Nine Hells on his behalf. While doing so, she put her own plans into motion, much to the surprise of the other archdevils. Even before Glasya assumed the rulership of Malbolge, she established the Hells' first organized crime syndicate, using her followers to purchase souls on her behalf while paying for them with what amounted to worthless coin.

Was it Asmodeus's intent all along that Glasya should strike out on her own, or was Glasya rebellious and clever enough to successfully defy her father? Was Glasya's rise to power an unforeseen benefit of her machinations, or is it a great embarrassment to Asmodeus? Likely only the two of them know the truth.

Taking a cue from the sword, shield, and dreg legions into which the devil's armies are grouped, Glasya established a new category of "legion" to realize her plans for profit and power: the coin legions.

The members of Glasya's coin legions operate in the manner of thieves' guilds on the Material Plane. They have one critical advantage compared to their mortal contemporaries: Glasya's knowledge of the law. She knew that in many cases, procedures that devils observed and obeyed as laws were merely traditions, and failing to observe a tradition carries no penalty according to the law of the Hells.

Glasya's scheme involved using counterfeit currency to buy souls in Minauros, then selling them soon after to turn an incredible profit. When the truth of her dealings became apparent, she defended her actions based on the legal definition of a coin as minted in Minauros.

According to law, the gold composition of a coin was strictly defined at the time of the coin's creation, but no law governed a coin's state after it left the mint. As long as it was made in the mint, it was legal currency.

Glasya got around the law by transmuting lead to gold, then having coins minted from the substance. After she claimed her currency and her coin legions spent it on her purchases, the magic expired and the gold became lead once more.

Asmodeus, although he couldn't punish Glasya for breaking the law, decided to discipline her by doing something only he could do: making her an archdevil. He reasoned that, now that she was effectively tied to a single layer of the Hells and saddled with responsibilities in her capacity as prison warden, her ambitions would be kept in check.

To make Glasya's workload even more onerous (and to serve as an ironic form of punishment), Asmodeus decreed that Glasya could entice souls into the Nine Hells only through delving into matters of contracts, bargains, and legalities. She and her agents offer mortal petitioners advice on how to manipulate or circumvent the law, or to identify escape clauses-all to ensure that whatever they desire can be obtained without violating a legal precedent.

Despite her new responsibility as a jailer, Glasya may adorn herself in luxurious jewels, clothes, and finery worth several thousands of gold. Glasya appears as a 6 foot tall, red-haired tiefling with leathery wings similar in form to a succubus.

As an expert in finding loopholes and exploiting the law for her own good, Glasya is a patron of thieves and other criminals, especially corrupt nobles. Her petitioners want power, money, and love, but they want to come by it within the bounds of the law. A notable portion of Glasya's petitioners are souls who have pledged themselves to another Lord of the Nine and want out of the bargain. Her minions scour every contract struck with another devil and approach mortals whose contracts contain loopholes. In return for giving their souls to her instead, such individuals learn how to break the contract and negate whatever price the contract says they must pay.

Personality Trait. "Of course I love my father. Without him, whom would I have to strive against?"

Ideal. "Chains are meant to be broken, as are those who would forge them."

Bond. "My father's plans are ever delicate things, relying on a hundred thousand points to craft the whole. It would be... a shame, if one of those more critical points were to fail."

Flaw. "I am secretly jealous of the freedom that mortals enjoy."

Glasya’s Lair

Glasya is the lord of Malbolge, the sixth layer of the Hine Hells. Malbolge is the prison of the Nine Hells, and on this layer dwells its most infamous criminal. Glasya, the rebellious daughter of Asmodeus, rules the place and oversees the punishments doled out to devils that stray from their assigned tasks. These lawbreakers are put on trial in Phlegethos, and if they are found guilty they are dispatched to Malbolge to endure years of torment. The fact that Glasya is both prison warden and the Nine Hells' most notorious criminal is evidence that in the infernal realms, crime pays as long as you avoid being convicted. 

Malbolge comprises one infinitely large, steep-sloped mountain. Boulders and other debris rain down from its heights in frequent avalanches. Some of the structures here are erected atop pillars of adamantine embedded in the mountain that can withstand the constant battering, though the platforms they support sway under the force of the onslaught. Condemned devils are typically trapped in cages, which are lowered on chains to hang beneath the platforms. From such a vantage, the prisoners are continually battered by Malbolge's avalanches, causing injuries that are agonizing but never fatal.

Some locations on the mountain are shielded from the rockfall by structures that have projections pointing up-slope so that avalanches wash around the protected areas beneath. Roofed trenches and tunnels make travel between locations possible, if perilous.

The citadel that serves as Glasya's domicile on the slopes of Malbolge, called Osseia, is supported by cracked pillars and buttresses that are sturdy yet seem on the verge of collapse. Beneath the palace is a labyrinth lined with cells and torture chambers, where Glasya confines and torments those who displease her.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Glasya takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects:

• Glasya polymorphs into a Small or Medium Humanoid she has seen, or back into her true form. Her statistics, other than her size, are the same in each form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies.
• Glasya whispers to a creature she can see within 30 feet of her. The target must make a DC 22 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target has the charmed condition until the start of its next turn and must use its reaction immediately to make an attack against one of Glasya's enemies, chosen by Glasya.
• Until initiative count 20 on the next round, Glasya can pass through solid walls, doors, ceilings, and floors as if the surfaces weren't there.
• Glasya chooses an active spell of 5th level or lower that she is aware of in the lair and ends the spell.

Regional Effects

The region containing Glasya's lair is corrupted by her presence, which creates the following effects:

• Every hour that a lawful good or chaotic evil creature travels within 1 mile of the lair, a blast of fire erupts from one of the eye sockets of the lair. If the target fails a DC 23 Dexterity saving throw, they take 42 (12d6) fire damage, half on a successful save. If the creature was flying and fails the saving throw, it falls. Only one such creature is targeted each hour.
• Glasya can hear up to 30 feet through any open flame within 1 mile of her lair.

• Lawful aligned creatures that spend a year within 6 miles of Glasya's lair become cool and calculating.

If Glasya dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.